The Revitalisation of the Rockhampton Riverbank

The 2018 Liveable Cities Conference is being held next month over 16 – 17 July at the Pullman Melbourne on the Park.

Now in its 11th year, this Conference will continue to explore the liveability of our metropolitan and regional urban centres.

Mr Glen Power, Director at Urbis joins us at the conference to discuss ‘The Revitalisation of the Rockhampton Riverbank’.

Glen Power

Abstract

The enormous unrealised cultural, social, tourism and business potential of Rockhampton’s CBD prompted the Rockhampton Regional Council to prioritise investment and effort into the revitalisation of the city centre. With a firm focus on job creation, investment attraction and place creation, the CBD Redevelopment Framework delivered the long-term strategic framework for the revitalisation the CBD. This work in parallel with the design and delivery of waterfront and streetscape upgrades to the CBD’s Riverside Precinct are a clear demonstration of Council’s focus on repositioning the core of the city centre to once again be the vibrant heart of the region.

The redevelopment of the Rockhampton Riverside Precinct is guided by the intents in the CBD Redevelopment Framework. Both streams of work have been informed by significant participation of the community, local businesses, Council’s internal teams and Councillors themselves. The focus of all activity has been to bring the iconic history of the city to life, encourage CBD living and housing diversity, creating unique and memorable destinations and attract a dynamic mix of businesses to stimulate growth, jobs, tourism and vibrancy.

The riverfront of Rockhampton is the most important of Rockhampton’s public open space assets. With iconic heritage buildings of national significance along Quay Street directly overlooking the riverfront, the design rationale has been to unite the city to the river and celebrate the unique community and heritage of the place in a contemporary and dynamic way. The design creates a riverfront that is contemporary and coherent with a clear and strong sense of place. An array of memorable destinations and attractors stimulate both day and night-time activation. Activation nodes and public art encourage movement and are connected by a generous high quality riverwalk and pathway system that ties back into the upper embankment, namely Quay Street and the wider CBD.

Biography

Glen Power is a leading landscape architect focused on creating spaces that delight the senses. He specialises in greenfield residential developments, resorts and waterfront revitalisation, with a particular interest in parklands and playgrounds. Glen’s passion for energetic, family-oriented landscapes drives him to create high-quality, functional and innovative designs that suit the site and meet the client brief. In applying this work ethic, he has master planned new cities and revitalisation projects, delivered numerous parklands and open-space recreation areas, and designed award-winning playgrounds and resort developments throughout Australia, New Zealand, China, Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam and Fiji.

For more information on the upcoming 2018 Liveable Cities Conference in Melbourne and to secure your spot please visit liveablecities.org.au